Chuck Smith says he has made that approach and landing hundreds of times in his career. He shared a video showing what it looks like to fly near Washington, D.C., and over the Potomac River. He says the airspace is notoriously busy with commercial,

""DCA is one of the most demanding airports in the world. It also has what’s known as ‘helicopter alley’ with hundreds of police, military, news and rescue helicopters criss-crossing the Potomac River,

If changes aren't made, that near-miss becomes a mid-air collision,” one aviation safety expert said. “Unfortunately, that's what we had last night.”

An American Airlines regional jet went down in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after colliding with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, with no survivors expected.

Leaders across the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region, as well as federal lawmakers, are reacting to the tragic American Airlines plane crash near DCA.

Lawmakers have expressed concerns about congestion in at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport amid a constricted space.

On May 29, 2024, an American Airlines Airbus A319, in the early stages of take-off, was forced to brake heavily to avoid a collision at Washington National. The flight, with around 100 passengers and crew onboard, was headed for Boston Logan International (BOS) and had been cleared for take-off.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a regional American Airlines flight that was on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night.

An American Airlines regional jet went down in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after colliding with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night,

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

US airlines had gone 16 years without a fatal crash until Wednesday night. But as impressive as that safety record had been, there have been warning signs in recent years of a significant risk of a collision like the one that just killed 67 people.